Australian families will have choice and equity in education as the Morrison Government guarantees funding to the non-government school sector.

The Australian Government has accepted all the recommendations of the National School Resourcing Board’s Review of the socio-economic status score, released in July. The new method for calculating school funding will make the education system fairer and more equitable.

Commonwealth funding for non-government schools will be linked to parental income from 2020 using improved data collection and analysis that will ensure non-government school funding is targeted at the students who need it most.

A vibrant, fairly funded non-government school sector ensures parents retain the choice of where to send their kids to school. The non-government system provides an alternative which improves standards and competition across the board, while also alleviating pressure on the state system.

The Federal Government is providing a record $309.6 billion in recurrent funding to all Australian schools from 2018 to 2029. The Government remains committed to sector blind needs based funding arrangements and will provide an additional $3.2 billion over ten years to non-government schools identified as needing the most help from 2020 to 2029, with an additional $170.8 million available in 2019 to give funding certainty.

A further $1.2 billion will be provided for a new fund to address specific challenges in the non-government school sector, such as supporting schools in drought-affected areas, schools that need help to improve performance and to deliver choice in communities.

The Government appreciates the constructive way the non-government sector has worked together to deliver these important reforms.